Awesome, I can't wait till I have saved enough to make the trip I have planned to rent a bike and ride through England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, etc. It won't be a hopped up Norton but I will see the places on 2 wheels. The wife and I tried to do it last August as a friend of hers was being married in Glasgow, but we were just to broke to do it Love the stories, their great! When I make it over I will make sure to look you guys up to share a pint and some stories.

Don't look me up. I'm back home in Riverside, CA nice and warm. Most of the time I was there my only transport was the Norton. Not always with the Manx. It had a 500T Norton, a 650 Triumph, a 350 Norton over the years. But a lot of the time it was so cold it wasn't serious shrinkage but more like serious retraction. Sometimes it was so cold my balls would retract to the point I looked like I had three adams apples. If you do get over there you'll have a great time.

Don't look me up. I'm back home in Riverside, CA nice and warm. Most of the time I was there my only transport was the Norton. Not always with the Manx. It had a 500T Norton, a 650 Triumph, a 350 Norton over the years. But a lot of the time it was so cold it wasn't serious shrinkage but more like serious retraction. Sometimes it was so cold my balls would retract to the point I looked like I had three adams apples. If you do get over there you'll have a great time.

well I'll look you up when I go visit my Sister in Cali. I know about cold and only a bike for transport. I had to ride to PEI in October for work, had to leave the RAV 4 for my Mother in law to watch my son. So I took the 79 GL and crossed the longest bridge in the world at just above freezing temps. Whitecaps and wind so strong it lifted the 600 +lb bike and 200+ lb rider in the air at one point but pucker moment, I was only going like 40mph. I slowed down a bit till I got back on the solid land. they have to close the bridge when the wind picks up to bikes and high sided trucks, sometimes to all vehicles. They closed it half way through my run across.

Cold ? I attended the very first Dragon Rally [ Bryn Bras Castle ] at the foot of Snowdon in February 1962.

It was a last minute thing and we opted for the "accomodation" for ten shillings [ 50p or around 75 cents now ].

We all congregated at the Busy Bee [ I was on a Tribsa ] around 8.am and set off in convoy. Just North of Birmingham we ran into some snow storms and by the time we got to the venue there was around 10" of lying snow.

Now then, brain of Britain here had set off with leather jacket and jeans but with a thick ex. submariners woolley jumper to keep out the cold - nahhhh - didn't work, we were frozen. The ground temperature was -15 degreees. On arrival we found our accomodation - an ex-army tent ! No bedding or anything - just the bare grass. I decided that the BBQ pit looked inviting and when it had died down just to the embers I jumped on top of the grill and slept there. Problem was in the morning [ about 4 am] I got off and much to the amusement of my pals - I had some really nice griddle imprints on the back of my leathers !

The headlight parade around the base of Snowdon was one of those events you just had to be at - a line of headlights as far as the eye could see snaking round the mountain.

Highlight was seeing a couple of guys who turned up on Scott Squirrels [ water cooled ] - both ran their engines up and while one drained the rad to wash and shave [ stripped to the waist ! ] the other used the rad water to brew up a cuppa .

When we eventually got home I was so cold I had to be lifted off the bike.

Oh, to have been a young man in the 50's and 60's. Some of the storys my Dad tells just make me wish I had a DeLorean with a flux capacitor. Please keep the stories coming.

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'75 CB 360 w/.075 oversized pistons

Given the moral maze inhabited by managers, we can understand why those higher in the hierarchy must absent themselves from the details of the production process: such abstraction facilitates non accountability. - Mathew Crawford

Maritime, if you're around the Midlands [ South of Birmngham ] call in for a beer or 3 - we've always got a spare bed.

yes - the Dragon Rally - there's loads of little instances like that, but not really long enough for a "story". AND - I don't want to overstay my welcome or abuse the forum.

It WAS a genuine pleasure to be a youth in the 50's and 60's - wartime austerity and rationing was about finished. Bikes and fuel were really cheap. With the coming of cheap cars - the Mini, Ford Anglia and so on - the day of the bike for commuting was over - so there were 1000's of unwanted bikes. Employment prospects were excellent for those that wanted to work. Military conscription [ compulsory ] had ended about 12 months before I was due to be called up - so I missed that - yes life was good.